British beauty Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock is a mutant with vast telepathic and telekinetic powers that she can focus into deadly weapons. She is a stealthy martial artist, a former fashion model and longtime X-Man.

Psylocke Receives Mega Power Boost

Even right before Remnder's first issue of Uncanny was released, Remender stated that he saw Betsy as an omega level telepath, now that the amazing Dark Angel Saga has ended, Remnder dishes a bit more info on the state of Betsy's psychic abilities...

Uncanny X-Force #18

The Jean Grey of the "Age of Apocalypse" reality opened Betsy's mind up (See Uncanny X-Force #17). She unlocked a lot of stuff. In this issue, you saw the giant, Phoenix-like butterfly effect Betsy generated when she was fighting Archangel. She knocked him down with that. No one had accomplished that to this point -- she hadn't been able to get into his mind before that either. He had just been this thing that was way, way beyond her. Whatever Jean Grey did when she was inside Betsy's head unlocked some potential.We're going to be seeing a lot of that. She is an Omega level. One thing we wanted to accomplish with this story was that Betsy comes out a full fledged Omega level mutant, on par with Xavier or Jean. In my mind, that's what was accomplished when Jean unlocked the powers in her head.

He also teases what's in store for Betsy:

Now, we're dealing with Betsy's fall out from all of this. I don't think anybody is going to anticipate Betsy's arc for next year, so the Otherworld arc is really about Betsy's reaction to what happened, Fantomex and the consequences for what he's been up to, as well as the rest of the Braddock clan being hip to the fact that this guy is someone to be wary of.

Good. She should be that uber. Take a look at Sword Of The Braddocks, especially her showdown with Slaymaster (I'm sure you have, I mean think about) for one example. Psylocke gets called out for writers being inconstant by many and they would be right. Especially in changing her powers and nerfing/worfing them. She isn't actually alone, this is actually a constant with spotlight mutant characters in particular. Personally once they're up there I would rather they either stay or get more impressive. Diminishing characters capacity puts me out because I feel the writer that does it is taking the easy way out rather than challenging themselves to writing the type of stories where those power levels work (X-Man, Cable, Magneto, Cannonball, Juggernaut, ect). Kudos to Remender, then again when doesn't he deliver. Speaking off your reading this Rick get your hands Nate Grey please and thanks. Look fore ward to your work.

I like to theorise that this can actually canonically hold some weight. Claremont increased Betsy's powerset a considerable amount when Jamie resurrected her, but then Matt Fraction went and bloody disregarded everything Claremont spent a good few years building up by brainwashing her and giving her telepathy again and mashing everything together to suit his storyline.

Enter Remender, who's been building Psylocke back from the ground up. You could say that her potential that Jamie granted her was blocked somehow with all the interdimensional traversing, and that the Death Seed was able to unlock this again since it allows its avatar their true potential. Then Jean defeated the Death persona and thus allowed Betsy her full power again.

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

@jcbart said:

I like to theorise that this can actually canonically hold some weight. Claremont increased Betsy's powerset a considerable amount when Jamie resurrected her, but then Matt Fraction went and bloody disregarded everything Claremont spent a good few years building up by brainwashing her and giving her telepathy again and mashing everything together to suit his storyline.

Enter Remender, who's been building Psylocke back from the ground up. You could say that her potential that Jamie granted her was blocked somehow with all the interdimensional traversing, and that the Death Seed was able to unlock this again since it allows its avatar their true potential. Then Jean defeated the Death persona and thus allowed Betsy her full power again.

Does this mean that if the death seed is taken from her she will lose all that she has gained power wise?

I wish someone would do this same type of thing for Iceman so he can start being taken seriously

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

Omega level telepathy pertains strictly to telepathic talents of the highest level. Quite a few characters, including but not limited to Xavier, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire and Psylocke are Omega level telepaths. Being an Omega level telepath does not necessitate a character is an Omega level mutant, though.

An Omega level mutant in general supposedly possesses unlimited potential to their respective abilities.

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

Omega level telepathy pertains strictly to telepathic talents of the highest level. Quite a few characters, including but not limited to Xavier, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire and Psylocke are Omega level telepaths. Being an Omega level telepath does not necessitate a character is an Omega level mutant, though.

An Omega level mutant in general supposedly possesses unlimited potential to their respective abilities.

thanks. I always thought Jean and Quentin were Omega level mutants while Xavier, Emma, and Psylocke were Alpha level mutants with Xavier being the highest of that group listed. I didnt realize they have broken it down even further to being omega in just certain areas of powers. I figured it was all of nothing.

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

Omega level telepathy pertains strictly to telepathic talents of the highest level. Quite a few characters, including but not limited to Xavier, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire and Psylocke are Omega level telepaths. Being an Omega level telepath does not necessitate a character is an Omega level mutant, though.

An Omega level mutant in general supposedly possesses unlimited potential to their respective abilities.

I've heard the definition was that they could hange Eco-Systems or reality or something like that. But anyways Degraaf, they scraped this because it was confusing and it isn't used much anymore.

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

Omega level telepathy pertains strictly to telepathic talents of the highest level. Quite a few characters, including but not limited to Xavier, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire and Psylocke are Omega level telepaths. Being an Omega level telepath does not necessitate a character is an Omega level mutant, though.

An Omega level mutant in general supposedly possesses unlimited potential to their respective abilities.

thanks. I always thought Jean and Quentin were Omega level mutants while Xavier, Emma, and Psylocke were Alpha level mutants with Xavier being the highest of that group listed. I didnt realize they have broken it down even further to being omega in just certain areas of powers. I figured it was all of nothing.

So is Iceman an Omega level mutant or just Omega for his abilities?

The two definitions are separate, but they can occasionally coincide. Some Omega level telepaths can also be Omega level mutants (much like Jean and Rachel Grey, or Quentin Quire), but not all Omega level telepaths are Omega level mutants.

There is Omega level telepathy and Omega level status as a mutant. Iceman isn't a telepath so the first definition is null in his case, but he is indeed an Omega level mutant.

I wish someone would do this same type of thing for Iceman so he can start being taken seriously

It's happening. Read Wolverine and the Xmen.

thanks.

@Morpheus_ said:

The two definitions are separate, but they can occasionally coincide. Some Omega level telepaths can also be Omega level mutants (much like Jean and Rachel Grey, or Quentin Quire), but not all Omega level telepaths are Omega level mutants.

There is Omega level telepathy and Omega level status as a mutant. Iceman isn't a telepath so the first definition is null in his case, but he is indeed an Omega level mutant.

Thanks. I knew Iceman wasnt a telepath so Omega telepath wouldnt apply to him but i wasnt sure if he was an omega level like Franklin Richards or an Omega Level like Jean (without the PF)

@Morpheus_: That might have changed. Ed Brubaker has claimed that, after being de-powered by the Scarlet Witch and then re-powered by the M'Kraan Crystal, Charles' telepathy is more powerful than was previously known. However, the extent of this enhancement is unknown.

@Morpheus_: That might have changed. Ed Brubaker has claimed that, after being de-powered by the Scarlet Witch and then re-powered by the M'Kraan Crystal, Charles' telepathy is more powerful than was previously known. However, the extent of this enhancement is unknown.

His telepathy might be more powerful than before, but unless specific confirmation exists that Charles is an Omega level mutant on print (and there isn't, at least not in Brubaker's run because I've read it), then he isn't one. Nate Grey was, for all intends and purposes an Omega all along, and yet we only had confirmation for him in Dark X-Men, relatively recently. Others, such as Mad Jim Jaspers never received that status, even though it can very well be argued that they should. And, going back to Xavier, the manner in which he has been written post Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire (and it has been a long time since then) has not shown any substantial boost in comparison to how he used to be written, at least not off hand that I can remember.

I love what Remender is doing with Psylocke, and not just because of the power boost. He's giving her care and attention no writer has given her before. Betsy has always been cool, but thanks to Remender, she has finally become one of the strongest and most interesting female characters of X-Men. She's definitely the star of Uncanny X-Force.

Sometimes, it seems like writers give old characters power boosts or create powerful new characters for no proper reason without really knowing what interesting to do with an immensely powerful character, which often leads to instant depowering, death, or other kind of quick exit for the character. Since Remender's work has been so impressive so far, I trust that Psylocke's power boost will be handled well in the upcoming story arc.

I love what Remender is doing with Psylocke, and not just because of the power boost. He's giving her care and attention no writer has given her before. Betsy has always been cool, but thanks to Remender, she has finally become one of the strongest and most interesting female characters of X-Men. She's definitely the star of Uncanny X-Force.

Sometimes, it seems like writers give old characters power boosts or create powerful new characters for no proper reason without really knowing what interesting to do with an immensely powerful character, which often leads to instant depowering, death, or other kind of quick exit for the character. Since Remender's work has been so impressive so far, I trust that Psylocke's power boost will be handled well in the upcoming story arc.

beast that looks cool you go psylocke now make wolverine omega level and @Iron_Turtle: wolverine and the xmen he did do some omega level crap im not gonna spoil it buts its awesome it happens in issue 2

While I like that they are spotlighting Psylocke as a top tier character again (thank god and finally!!), I still feel like the Omega level telepathy status has lost some merit. I felt the same way when they started using it for Emma, since I liked that she was so powerful because of how skilled she was. I hope they don't suddenly ignore the skill that Psylocke has developed / maintained, just have her start relying solely on the fact that she has so much raw power now.

However, with that being said, her progression into getting so much power actually makes sense, esp after the big boost in power she got from Jaimie after being resurrected (which someone has already mentioned). It was done significantly better than what they did with Emma.

@pixelized: lol I liked what this guy said about it. Even though it was awful writing, it can still technically be used, but its probably best to just ignore it.

@jcbart said:

I like to theorise that this can actually canonically hold some weight. Claremont increased Betsy's powerset a considerable amount when Jamie resurrected her, but then Matt Fraction went and bloody disregarded everything Claremont spent a good few years building up by brainwashing her and giving her telepathy again and mashing everything together to suit his storyline.

Enter Remender, who's been building Psylocke back from the ground up. You could say that her potential that Jamie granted her was blocked somehow with all the interdimensional traversing, and that the Death Seed was able to unlock this again since it allows its avatar their true potential. Then Jean defeated the Death persona and thus allowed Betsy her full power again.

Ok so I admit this is a cool development but Remender really needs to make the distinction between Omega level telepathy, & mutation. the latter is something you either are or are not. If Psylocke has always been omega, then he should say so. It's not inconceivable that there are omega mutants we don't know about. Becoming an omega level mutant however is impossible, you either have the genes, or you don't. Case in point, during Utopia Emma stated that both she and Xavier were omega "class" telepaths. However as shown in the Phoenix endsong story, she was just a "shell" for the phoenix force, not a true host, and as such is not an Omega Level Mutant. If Remender is suggesting one can become an Omega Mutant, from mere contact with another things could get quite problematic continuity wise. I hope he clears this up sooner rather than later.

Nevertheless it's interesting to see some character development with Psylocke and her history with Jean and the resulting changes in her power set are well established in continuity. The Dark Angel Saga is a modern classic. Really looking forward to its aftermath and the future of X-Force in general

Rick seems to have things mixed up since Chuck isn't an Omega level mutant, merely an Omega level telepath.

whats the difference?

@jcbart said:

I like to theorise that this can actually canonically hold some weight. Claremont increased Betsy's powerset a considerable amount when Jamie resurrected her, but then Matt Fraction went and bloody disregarded everything Claremont spent a good few years building up by brainwashing her and giving her telepathy again and mashing everything together to suit his storyline.

Enter Remender, who's been building Psylocke back from the ground up. You could say that her potential that Jamie granted her was blocked somehow with all the interdimensional traversing, and that the Death Seed was able to unlock this again since it allows its avatar their true potential. Then Jean defeated the Death persona and thus allowed Betsy her full power again.

Does this mean that if the death seed is taken from her she will lose all that she has gained power wise?

I wish someone would do this same type of thing for Iceman so he can start being taken seriously

No I think it's more of like unlocking a door rather than holding it open for her (if the metaphor stretches that far). Once the Death Seed unlocked her potential, she's got access to it.

I too wish that Bobby would step up. It's been years of hints but no-one's had the gonads to step up to the plate and write Drake as a serious character who has matured.

Eh preferred if she didn't to be honest. Remender I like, but he ignores other writers work and other writers will probably ignore his work, his characterization and knowledge of characters like Gambit and Storm suck (but thats okay, because he isn't writing them) and his knowledge of X-Men continuity... well.

Anyway, he's like Fraction but with good characterization. When he says Omega anything it sounds like he's using a buzz word to appeal to fans that know or heard of it a few times. No writer or editor in X-Books actually (probably) cares about this stuff and from what I remember there isn't actually a general consensus on the term other than CC invented it and other writers use it now and then for buzz.

So why do I wish she didn't? When Remender stops writing her she might end up like Iceman. Before she was defined more by her skill and ability and ability to apply skill masterfully. As soon as she stops applying her skill in lieu of power demonstrations... well....

No I think it's more of like unlocking a door rather than holding it open for her (if the metaphor stretches that far). Once the Death Seed unlocked her potential, she's got access to it.

I too wish that Bobby would step up. It's been years of hints but no-one's had the gonads to step up to the plate and write Drake as a serious character who has matured.

Ok that makes sense i wasnt sure if the death seed was more like the life force that Scarlet witch has during house of M. He suped up her powers but when she lost it her powers dropped again.

Someone mentioned that Bobby is being written more to our liking in Wolverine and the X-Men. I dont have a problem with him not being serious, he can still be powerful and not be serious (like Johnny Storm)

The thing I liked about Psylocke was, despite the fact that she wasn't the most powerful psychic, her physical prowess made her all the more formidable. Making her an Omega is pish-posh....and what I don't get is that Remender didn't even mention the death seed amplifying her powers, he said it had to do with AoA Jean's intervention...prompting the giant butterfly which looked a helluva lot like the Phoenix symbol, to which I cry a big fat BOOOOOOOOO!

I'd rather (and I know this has already been done on numerous occasions with Betsy) that the death seed awakened a new, deadlier ability within her, like a psionic scimitar that had more damaging affects on her opponents...then she could dawn a cape reminiscent of her Australian Outback days and deal with the darkness in her for a while. I dunno, making her an Omega just seems like a bit of a cop-out.

The thing I liked about Psylocke was, despite the fact that she wasn't the most powerful psychic, her physical prowess made her all the more formidable. Making her an Omega is pish-posh....and what I don't get is that Remender didn't even mention the death seed amplifying her powers, he said it had to do with AoA Jean's intervention...prompting the giant butterfly which looked a helluva lot like the Phoenix symbol, to which I cry a big fat BOOOOOOOOO!

I'd rather (and I know this has already been done on numerous occasions with Betsy) that the death seed awakened a new, deadlier ability within her, like a psionic scimitar that had more damaging affects on her opponents...then she could dawn a cape reminiscent of her Australian Outback days and deal with the darkness in her for a while. I dunno, making her an Omega just seems like a bit of a cop-out.

Completely agree. QFT

Also does she have a psychic link with Brian? Remender recently stated that "Betsy could no longer tamp down her psychic link with Brian, so their connection was re-connected, and Brian ended up seeing what Betsy had been doing, and what she is doing."

I never even knew she had such a powerful psychic link with her brothers.

@Lifeguard85: I know they touched on the link between Bets & Brian during the House of M where they could "see" what the other was experiencing. It was also mentioned back in an Excalibur annual that the twins shared this psychic connection as children that wasn't as strong with Jamie as he grew older and more distant.

@Thunderscream: I like your suggestion BUT I understand how he used jean to unlock her latent power because Psylocke's powers were fudged up by the body swapping and the shadow king fight so it makes sense that there would be a kink in her powers that Jean fixed. I mean Rick will be dealing with her adjusting to her new(pretty much original) powers that she hasn't been able to use in quite some time

Though I wish there was some effect left over from her death persona since she did receive the death seed and you'd think there would be some remaining fragment of that, but she was only death for like an hour so you could rationalize that she hadn't fully been overtaken

I always knew he'd use the horseman transformation as his way to make psylocke an omega ever since I saw the solicit

@Baddamdog: Tell me about it. It's just so bloody dull and has no relevance to anything whatsoever. It's merely an excuse to say, "Look! The X-Men aren't segregated with the rest of the Marvel 'Verse! They're having adventures with them!"